Maxbialystock

Looks like Grey is using just fastball and curve? Wrong?

For the Yankee pitcher. Not sure Sale will get one so generous.

That's one big difference between Yankee pitchers and Sox pitchers. Gray throws a 95 mph fastball for a strike and followed it with a nice curve for another strike. Our guys like to "save" their breaking stuff for later. They like to spend the first inning establishing their authority with the fastball.

Perhaps. I hope you are right. I’m worried.

I thought the same thing during the game. I saw at least two pitches move right to left, but not by much. In earlier games he had a pretty good change up.

Of course it should happen if you look at how Sabathia pitches. Lots of movement on his pitches, lots of different pitches, and excellent command of what he is throwing. If you believe in good pitching vs. mere throwing, last night was a clinic, a demonstration of how good pitching is effective and merely throwing hard--what ERod did for 6 innings and 5 runs--is not effective. Heck, just boil it down to who keeps the ball low. Sabathia does. ERod doesn't. I think we have a pretty good lineup and against lefties Pearce was a nice addition. But not against a smart pitcher at the top of his game/repertoire. The Yankees also have a pretty good lineup, and last night ERod was pitching to their strength most of the evening.

Of course it should happen if you look at how Sabathia pitches. Lots of movement on his pitches, lots of different pitches, and excellent command of what he is throwing. If you believe in good pitching vs. mere throwing, last night was a clinic, a demonstration of how good pitching is effective and merely throwing hard--what ERod did for 6 innings and 5 runs--is not effective. Heck, just boil it down to who keeps the ball low. Sabathia does. ERod doesn't. I think we have a pretty good lineup and against lefties Pearce was a nice addition. But not against a smart pitcher at the top of his game/repertoire.

Good strategy, but the wrong team. The Sox--no doubt under the continued influence of Bill James--are very anti-bunt, which also means they don't practice that particular skill. Their occasional attempts to bunt are usually laughable.

You made that 52% up, but I think it could be about right. Baseball game outcomes are really hard to predict. Last year, for example, the Guardians had the best won-loss % at 63%, then the Astros at 62%, then the Sox and Yankees at about 57%. If they all play a 10 game series--not against each other-- and win their usual amount, they all win 6 games. The length of the MLB season--162 games, which is 6 games a week for six months-- makes small differences seem bigger than they are. That said, I also believe pitching matchups can be pretty decisive. But even aces can have off nights and non-aces rise to the occasion. In the 2013 ALCS, our ace was Lester, but it was Lackey who started vs. Verlander and won, 1-0. I firmly believe that the unpredictability of games, pitchers, hitters, etc is one of the great strengths of baseball and MLB.

Why just one ace? Why not two or three? And don't forget trading half the Sox for Machado. You truly are the fount of great ideas for fixing this team.

moonslav59 has been making that last point repeatedly. Plus I agree our lineup if fine overall.

No quarrel with saying our lineup is pretty good--last night notwithstanding. Actually, I thought last night was a clinic in how to pitch effectively with a lot of movement and command. Sabathia was masterful. ERod was just getting a workout--throwing, not pitching.

Ahem. Not so fast. Wright's now on the DL, and his last game was a stinker--10 runs as I recall. ERod stunk last night and continues to over-rely on his fast ball first and cut fast ball second. He has no curve or slider, and his changeup seems to have disappeared. He is most effective when he keeps the ball mostly low, but apparently can't do that consistently. Right now I would say the Sox have no better than the 3d best staff in the AL. The Astros ERA is under 3, which is ridiculous. We should be better than the Yankees, but aren't. Their rotation is about as good as ours--I hate saying that given that we should have the better of them here--and their bullpen is clearly better.

You are more right than illinoisredsox. Agree completely on Sabathia's command and the movement of his pitches, but would point out the many Sox hitters tried to hit him early in the count last night. It got them six hits and 2 doubles, but never really threw Sabathia off stride. Indeed, the Sox swinging early in the count was why Sabathia could go 7 innings. He got a lot of one and two pitch outs. To me last night was a clinic in how to pitch and how not to pitch as a starter. In contrast to Sabathia, ERod stuck with his fastball and cut fast ball. I never saw a single curve or slider. If he threw changeups, they weren't very often and didn't break much. In the final game vs. the Angels on Sunday, Kelly kept throwing that 99-100 fast ball, and the Angels kept hitting it hard. Kimbrel gets in trouble whenever he can't rely on his knuckle curve to set up his fast ball and vice versa. Then here comes starter, not reliever, ERod with his 94-96 mph four seamer which he over relies on, inning after inning after inning. At the end of the day, it's clear ERod is a thrower and Sabathia is a pitcher.

What game are you watching? Mookie is 2 for 3 with no K's. Now 2 for 4.

I disagree. We won game 3 and were definitely in position to win games 1 and 2. In fact, it was after those two losses I said the Sox can play with these guys. Season to date, the series is even at 3-3.

Good for Cora and ERod: six innings. Game is probably out of reach--all the more reason not to bring in the bullpen any sooner than absolutely necessary. This is where the proverbial 7 run rule definitely applies. But I don't think it applies when the Sox offense is perking and scoring runs and the game is winnable. This game might still be winnable, but the odds are against it. Better to cut our losses and get the most possible outs of ERod's arm.

As I said earlier in the thread, ERod and Sabathia are polar opposites. Sabathia has little speed but a great mix of pitches and excellent control. ERod actually has a pretty good fast ball but relies on it too much, especially when he doesn't command it very well. Plus he doesn't have any pitches that break sharply down and tends just to throw a cut fastball. The whole idea is to keep hitters off balance. The Yankees actually hit ERod hard in the 1st, but they were right to someone (2 of them, anyway). The other thing I've said about ERod is that he is definitely more effective when the keeps the ball down. He did that tonight on exactly one batter, who GIDP'd. Tonight his pitches have been mostly up. Sale, Price, and even Porcello all have a pretty good mix of pitches and that's why the are more effective.

???????????????

Clearly the Yankees love ERod's fastball--of which he throws a lot--almost as much as ERod does. He is fooling no one.

They definitely have ERod figured out--or his pitches anyway. That dinger was off a high fastball almost out of the zone. This is like the 1st inning only the balls aren't catchable.

I spoke too soon and hexed him. First a walk after an 0-2 count, then a fast ball near the middle of the zone for a double.

He has the 17th highest OPS in the AL at .853. That ain't chopped liver.

Nice, Pearce. Very nice.

OK. This has to be said. I don't like what ERod is doing, which probably means I'm an idiot because overall that's three darn good innings and 40 pitches. Also, what my mlb.com gameday (which I follow on my ipad with the game on tv) is calling cut fastballs occasionally are breaking to the left, not right, and that's a freaking changeup in my book. The kid so far is rising to the occasion.